Eventually, the Kansas City Royals will lose another baseball game. That is inevitable. At some point, they could fall back into second place. But what has happened over the past few weeks -- a major-league best 15-4 record -- is no fluke.

The 2014 Royals are better than the 2013 Royals. The 2014 Tigers are worse than the 2013 Tigers. A third comparison -- whether the 2014 Royals are better than the 2014 Tigers -- remains unsettled, but there's increasing evidence Kansas City will prevail.

The Royals have a deeper, better bullpen than the Tigers -- and no amount of trading between now and the July 31 non-waiver deadline is likely to change that. The Kansas City rotation has more quality starts than Detroit's this season. And while the Tigers' lineup often is revealed to be too young or too old, depending on the night, the Royals have had one of the most productive offenses in baseball since Dale Sveum took over as hitting coach May 29.

In short: Royals general manager Dayton Moore had the right idea when he acquired ace James Shields and lock-down setup man Wade Davis from Tampa Bay for a prospect package headlined by stud outfielder Wil Myers.

With Shields set to become a free agent after this season, that move in December 2012 effectively established a two-year window in which the Royals must win. This is the second of those years.